276. Clear Margins, One Surgery: Inside Perimeter’s Game-Changing Breast Cancer Technology

In this powerful conversation, host Laura Carfang, founder of SurvivingBreastCancer.org, sits down with Adrian Mendes, CEO of Perimeter Medical Imaging, and Dr. Allison DiPasquale, breast surgical oncologist and technology innovator. Together, they unpack one of the most anxiety-provoking moments after breast cancer surgery: “Did we get clear margins?”

Today, surgical innovation is radically changing that question.

Dr. DiPasquale walks listeners through the current challenges surgeons face with breast surgery, why 20–25% of patients traditionally require a second surgery, and how new real-time imaging tools are dramatically lowering that number. Mendes shares how Perimeter’s groundbreaking optical coherence tomography (OCT) and AI-powered margin assessment technology enables surgeons to visualize tissue in the operating room with near-microscopic detail—helping them achieve clear margins the first time.

In this episode we discuss: 

• What “clean margins” really mean and why they matter
• Why many patients still face additional surgeries — and how that’s changing 
• How OCT imaging works 
• What AI can detect that the human eye can’t
• How this technology reduces repeat surgeries and emotional burden
• What patients should ask their surgeon before going into the OR
• The upcoming FDA review and when patients can expect wider availability
• How rural and community hospitals could benefit from AI-assisted surgical tools